Nagraj Manjule, two-time National Award-winning filmmaker, will be making his Bollywood debut soon with a yet to be titled social drama. The director had approached none other than Amitabh Bachchan for the titular role of a patriarch for his upcoming venture.
Amitabh Bachchan. Image from Getty Images.
Manjule, who delivered Marathi smash hit Sairat in 2016, will soon be making directorial debut in Hindi cinema. Bachchan's character will reportedly have shades of grey that are displayed through the narrative. The movie was allegedly planned as a Marathi movie initially (Manjule's forte), however after working on the script for a while, the director apparently decided the story would be done better justice if it were to be a Hindi film.
The filmmaker reportedly fine tuned the script and its various facets for a year and a half, after which he took the script to Bachchan. The project was reportedly locked in soon thereafter, according to a Mumbai Mirror report.
Manjule revealed Sr Bachchan's influence in his life recently, after admitting that a major reason why he got into filmmaking was because he was inspired by Bachchan's movies, especially Ramesh Sippy's cultural phenomenon Sholay (having enacted a few scenes out of the movie playing Bachchan's character on stage). The feelings however, are returned by Big B as well. Their mutual admiration society is no secret, with Bachchan having lauded Manjule for Sairat on various social media platforms as well as reportedly sending him a personal congratulatory letter after watching the movie.
Sairat went on to become the highest grossing Marathi movie of 2016, and the movie was critically appraised world over, even being remade in Punjabi and Telugu. In fact Sairat had such a huge impact on the Indian film industry that Karan Johar bought the rights to remake the movie in Hindi. Soon after Sairat's completion and subsequent success was when Manjule reportedly started penning down the details of his latest project.
With the addition of this movie to Bachchan's already exploding kitty, the actor will be seen on our screens very frequently in the coming year. "Umesh Shukla’s 102 Not Out is over. I am now shooting for Kaun Banega Crorepati for the entire month of August. Then in September, I will return to Thugs Of Hindostan. In October I will be shooting for Nagraj Manjule’s film. After that I go into Ayan Mukejee’s film (Dragon) to be produced by Karan Johar. Then I am doing a film with Kabir Khan, R Balki and Shoojit Sircar," said Bachchan according to a report by The Quint.
The shooting for Manjule's social drama is expected to start by the end of 2017. Bachchan is currently occupied with Thugs of Hindostan alongside Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif. He will also be seen essaying the role of veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor's father in the upcoming 102 Not Out.
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